


Surprise Soulmate

by Malakia



Series: Naruto Rarepair Week 2020 [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Meetings, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24039232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malakia/pseuds/Malakia
Summary: This was the last thing Kakashi expected when he attended his first Kage Summit as the Hokage.Day 4 for Naruto Rarepair Week: "Soulmate AU." Also a cross event with KakaMei Mini bang.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Terumi Mei
Series: Naruto Rarepair Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729849
Comments: 14
Kudos: 63





	Surprise Soulmate

Kakashi shifted in his new Hokage uniform and wished to be anywhere else.

Today would be the first time he would be meeting with the other Kages since he took (been forced) to take the hat and the events of the Fourth Shinobi War. There was still so much to do; trade and diplomatic relations to renegotiate and reestablished. So much work to do and all Kakashi wanted was to hide in a hole and read his book.

“Oh, stop pouting.” Tsunade came up by his side with her hands on her hips. “If  _ I  _ could do it, so can you.”

He sent her an unimpressed look. “Only with Shizune and Sakura hounding you.”

“Oi, brat! I did a lot of good!” She lightly punched his shoulder. Yet even her lightest punch still packed a wallop and caused Kakashi to wince.

Deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble to fire back, he kept quiet and rubbed his shoulder.

“Now,” Tsunade threw her shoulders back. “You remember everything I told you about the other Kages?”

Kakashi nodded. She had been telling him about each Kage so he would know how to handle them. The most trouble would be Onoki, considering his stubbornness, but the others would be reasonable. Like Mei Temuri from Kirigakure in her defense of Gaara against Onoki during the last Kage Summit.

Tsunade grinned and winked at him. “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

Before Kakashi could come up with a rebuttal- because he had  _ everything  _ to worry about- there was a knock at the door.

Tsunade gave permission to enter. Genma casually strolled in with a lazy grin. “Everyone is here, Rokudamie-sama.” 

Kakashi resisted the urge to groan as he walked forward.

“Knock’em dead,” Tsunade cackled.

Feeling slightly vindictive towards his predecessor, Kakashi waited until just the moment he was about to step out the door. “Oh,” he said as if it was an afterthought. He looked at the former Hokage. “I suppose after, if I have any questions, I can find you at the local dive bar?”

A flash of annoyance crossed her face and her cheeks turned pink. “What I do is my business, brat!”

Kakashi nodded and bid her goodbye with a cheeky wave. Even when the door closed, he could  _ feel  _ the fire from her gaze. He figured she would not go to a bar and made a mental note to check the hospital later.

He heard Genma chuckle. “You’re lucky she likes you,” the bandana shinobi commented, “or she would have knocked your teeth out.”

Kakashi shrugged even as he chuckled. 

“Mm,” Genma chewed on the senbon in his mouth thoughtfully. “It could be that you both don’t have a soulmate. She feels connected because that is something you have in common, right?” He said it with no hint of teasing. He even waved a hand at his own marked face that Kakashi knew matched Raido’s.

Kakashi gave a noncommittal nod. 

It was the sweetest and cruelest thing, soulmate marks. Whenever you touched your soulmate, dark marks would appear entirely on the right side of your body- head to toe- and it would uniquely match each other. Then the marks were permanent. The starkness would only fade when your soulmate had passed away but still remain visible, as in Tsunade’s case.

Tsunade’s marks had faded after Dan’s death. And as he and Genma had just spoken about, Kakashi- by some grace or curse of the gods- hadn’t found his. That connection- the lack of a soulmate- caused speculation as to why the Slug Princess was so tolerant of the former teacher’s antics.

(Which was beyond the truth. She was his Godmother and Sakumo, before his death, had tried to help keep her off the self-destructive path she inevitably fell into after her soulmate’s passing. However, that was no one’s business but their own about what their relationship was.)

As they made their way to the meeting, Kakashi let his mind wander about his soulmate.

Honestly, it was a shocker how he had survived up until now without waking up one morning to faded marks. His soulmate wasn’t dead and was still alive, somewhere in the world. In his older age (old for a shinobi at least) he often found himself wondering about them. What were they doing? Where were they? And all those saccharine thoughts like he read in Icha Icha. 

But then he would push it to the back of his mind as his Hokage position took precedence.

Such as now. 

Genma opened the meeting doors for Kakashi. The sight that greeted was of two of the five Kages- the familiar face of Gaara and Mei, their advisors, and bodyguards.

“Hello,” Kakashi greeted while he raised a hand in salutation. He moved to take his seat at the circular table. “Thank you both for coming.”

Gaara nodded but remained silent and seated.

“Thank you for having us,” Mei smiled pleasantly. She stood up while Kakashi approached to sit next to her. 

She looked him up and down. He could see a brief glimpse of frustration in her eyes and smirked behind his face mask. There was a reason why he chose a shapeless outfit as his Hokage uniform. No one could assume anything about him.

Mei extended a hand. “It’s an honor for you to host us.”

Kakashi understood the new practice of greeting this way. It meant they were equals. There would also be a subtle show of strength through their hands. Tsunade warned him that A’s handshake was so very strong it would leave his hand hurting. 

Mei also only had the former Hokage as a basis of how to greet the leader from Konoha. And Tsunade didn’t have an aversion to touching. He didn’t necessarily mind either, though he preferred not to, and reached out to greet her back.

Only the moment their hands touched, it was as if a zap of electricity passed between them.

Mei stiffened and stared at him. Her mouth slightly dropped open while her one visible eye widened.

Kakashi wasn’t sure what she was feeling as they held each other’s hands tightly- almost to the point where it was beginning to hurt. For him, however, his heart began to pound erratically. It was as if the air had been knocked out of him. His mind felt lightheaded yet sharp as all of his focus was on the woman before him. 

Then, ever so slowly, he watched in fascination as red and black lightning marks climbed up the right side of Mei’s face. 

There was silence between them. Kakashi was barely able to comprehend what he was seeing. After so many years and tears,  _ here  _ was his  _ soulmate.  _

He scrambled on what he knew of the woman from Tsunade. Yet he realized it was very biased as it was through the eyes of a  _ shinobi leader  _ and not about the _ person _ Mei was.

“What the fuck!?” Kankuro’s voice broke through the rising panic in Kakashi’s mind.

The Hatake lazily raised his head and looked around to see everyone was staring at them. He suddenly remembered  _ where  _ they were. Yet he couldn’t for the  _ life  _ of him pull his hand away from Mei’s. And by the tight grip of the woman, the Mizukage didn’t want to let go either.

Before he could think of something to say, the doors to the room opened. 

A and Onoki strode in. The moment their eyes landed on Kakashi and Mei, they froze and stared at the couple with wide eyes. 

However, Onoki recovered first and grumbled half-crankily, “Why is it you Konoha-nin are always the cause of surprises?”

Kakashi responded instinctually. “I take offense of that on behalf of my Village,” he quipped. “I did nothing wrong.”

“Konoha-nin do  _ everything,”  _ Onoki humphed. “And now, how can we be sure we don’t have a case of potential favoritism between Konoha and Kiri?”

“Now Tsuchikage-sama,” Mei soothed. Her voice was wavy but still strong. 

She put on her most diplomatic smile. “That won’t be the case. After all, Hokage-sama and I just met. 

“How can there be favoritism when we don’t know much about one another?” She slowly and haltingly pulled her hand out of his. Kakashi resisted the urge to snatch it back. “I am sure both of us only have the interest of  _ all  _ the Villages in mind rather than using this unexpected encounter to our advantage.”

Onoki gave them both a skeptical look.

Mei’s smile turned a tad sharp in warning before it softened when she turned to Kakashi. In a whisper, she asked, “Can we speak after the meeting today?”

Kakashi nearly laughed. She sounded like he would even  _ think  _ that it would be an inconvenience to do so.

“Over dinner?” he added, equally quiet.

The lovely subtle color of pink of Mei’s cheeks was delightful. “O-of course,” she agreed. 

She gave him a once over again. With a bit of a smirk, she asked, “With respect, will you be wearing something more... appropriate?”

Kakashi developed a hidden smile. “Only for you,” he commented, pulling out a line from Icha Icha. 

It had a good effect as her blush darkened. She nodded before turning away so she could sit.

Kakashi then vowed to reread most of his Icha Icha collection to see how else he could woo her. If a simple phrase as that could make her react adorably, what else could he do?

Everyone then took their seats at the round table. Of course, Onoki gazed skeptically at all the Kage. Thankfully, Gaara and A seemed perfectly at ease despite the unconventional beginning. Mei also appeared perfectly composed, sitting straight and attentive in her chair.

However, sitting next to her, Kakashi could see the shaky hands in her lap. And, at times, she would run her left hand over her now marked right.

Kakashi completely understood. He also wanted to run his hands over his new marks. Or better yet, reach out and take her hands in his and explore the marks on the parts she allowed him to touch. That would be unprofessional, however.

After the meeting though, all bets were off. 

No longer did he have to wonder about his soulmate. No longer did he constantly have to imagine what their first meeting would be like. Or what kind of person they were. He knew. Even if it was very little, and only as a leader, he knew that there was a hard strength she had inside her that only someone with the will for change had. 

And now, he had the opportunity to do whatever he had to in order to woo this strong leader and learn even more about her as a person. 

Also, at a much later time, he hoped when she finally saw the broken parts of who he was, she would accept him fully.

He had already thought that the future was looking much better for the Villages with the help of his students and the younger generation. He only thought he had a small part to play in it and hadn’t given much thought for himself. 

Now though,  _ with his soulmate,  _ he could imagine it. And it was certainly much brighter than he ever thought imaginable. He couldn’t wait to explore it with Mei.

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmate mark idea: You develop your marks after you touch your soulmate. The right side thing was my idea :D


End file.
